JAMB released her statistics of the just-concluded exams. Sadly, out of the 1.9something million candidates that registered, 1.5 million candidates scored below 200.
First, this is not a time for blame games.
“In my opinion, a serious student would start preparing for UTME and other external exams from the penultimate year or sit for the UTME after WAEC.”
It’s time to look inwards. Success or failure depends on several factors.
1. Teachers: The truth is, in some schools, students are not prepared for UTME. Teachers focus on WAEC and NECO with the “hope” that students will study for the UTME.
Unfortunately, the schemes for WAEC and UTME aren’t the same. For instance, literature-in-English questions are broader in UTME, especially the literary principles section. If a candidate hasn’t studied properly, the candidate won’t excel. Chemistry for UTME is majorly the organic branch. It’s best for the teacher to have a grasp of both schemes before preparing students for UTME.
This doesn’t mean teachers don’t prepare their students properly.
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2. Students: Success or failure majorly depends on the student. If the student doesn’t study for the exams, failure is inevitable. In my opinion, a serious student would start preparing for UTME and other external exams from the penultimate year or sit for the UTME after WAEC. The reason is proper and early preparation prevents poor performance.
A student who doesn’t study or take his or her academics seriously would fail. Students can leverage technology. They can research topic areas that are challenging, watch videos on YouTube and take down notes. A.I. is an assistant; they could use A.I. to their advantage. A.I could be used to explain difficult concepts. A student could type this prompt on Meta or ChatGPT:
‘Explain the concept of democracy and its features to a sixteen-year-old.’
Several age-appropriate definitions would come, and the candidate already has a broader view of what democracy is about.
3. Parents: They also share the blame here. How many parents follow up on their children?
Phew!
Yet, they expect magic. A child should study daily. Two hours daily would go a long way. Most parents don’t have that time. A checklist of the UTME scheme for the registered subjects will go a long way.
With a checklist, parents can guide their children, and once the child has a mastery of the topic or concept, the parent ticks the box. Tough, right? Deliberate effort from the parents must be made to ensure success.
Charity begins from home; it’s the responsibility of the parents to guide their children. Sadly, some of these candidates who probably scored below a hundred will gain admission to universities and study a major course like medicine or law. Then one wonders how they graduated.
4. Government: Can UTME have coordination centres like WAEC and NECO? This way, teachers and interested parents know how questions are set and marked. Scripts shouldn’t be marked in these centres.
I once heard that the people who prepare UTME questions are lecturers. I don’t know how true this is. If it’s so, it’s therefore believed that candidates preparing for these exams are to apply the knowledge gained to questions asked.
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The government should pay close attention to the education sector. They should tackle strikes, especially in our government schools. A teacher who hasn’t been paid in months won’t deliver topics to be taught properly. What’s the budget for education? How does the government protect teachers, especially those beaten up by parents or students? What is the welfare package of the average teacher? You cannot pay peanuts and expect solid delivery from teachers.
As teachers, we need to do better. We should teach students to answer applied questions. They should apply the knowledge gained to questions asked. We shouldn’t rush to cover the scheme of work. Teaching should be done conscientiously, and the different kinds of learners should be carried along. Learning has to be fun, and teachers should also leverage technology. Remember, the teachers of the future are in our classrooms.
Can we do right by them?
Those 1.5 million candidates – let’s say half of them would gain admission to the university. They are doctors, lawyers, engineers and professionals of tomorrow. Let’s get it right today!
Oluwasijibomi Akindele-Obe is an English language teacher with over ten years’ experience in FCT-Abuja.
